Hubbard knew the trek into the Labrador interior was dangerous, as her husband Leonidas had died of starvation while attempting to make the journey two years earlier.

"It's amazing, and the fact she was a female impresses me and that she did the trek that her husband didn't get a chance to finish," says Madeline Kelly, who like other residents dressed in costume of the era Sunday to launch a week-long celebration.

Leonidas Hubbard was a U.S. journalist who specialized in writing about frontier places.

A book about his fatal journey, Lure of the Labrador Wild, became a bestseller, but angered his widow, a native of Hamilton Township, Ont.

Mina Hubbard felt that her husband's reputation had been sullied, so she set out to finish the journey, according to his plan.

Her story has drawn visitors to Labrador, including Ed Landa, who travelled from Silver Springs, Maryland.

"It's such a fascinating story. It's a woman's story, [a] historical story – it's the story of real passion," says Landa, who learned about the celebrations from an internet mailing list.

North West River Mayor Art Williams says the celebration ends a year of hard work for his community.

"This has been a long time coming for North West River and this is going to bring in a lot of tourists to our community, and all I see prosperity," he says.